INFORMATION RELATED TO THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS SERVED WHO ARE EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED AND ELIGIBLE FOR THE CALIFORNIA MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

The Joint Legislative Audit Committee requested that we determine the number of students during the five‑year audit period, from school year 2010–11 through 2014–15, at each of the four selected special education local plan areas (SELPAs) who had a mental health service in their individualized education program (IEP) and report the number of students who are and are not identified as emotionally disturbed and who do or do not qualify for California Medical Assistance Program (Medi‑Cal) services.10 Student IEPs can indicate both a primary and a secondary disability that contributes to the student’s eligibility for special education and related services. To count emotionally disturbed students, we identified students whose IEPs indicated that either the primary or the secondary disability was an emotional disturbance. We considered students eligible for Medi‑Cal if the student was eligible for mental health services under Medi‑Cal in the same year in which the student had mental health services in his or her IEP. Table A shows a summary of these data for each of the four SELPAs we reviewed.

Table A

Number of Students by Special Education Local Plan Area With a Mental Health Service in Their Individualized Education Program by Category of California Medical Assistance Program Eligibility and Emotional Disturbance Disability

Special Education Local Plan Area

California Medical Assistance Program (Medi‑Cal) Eligible

Emotional Disturbance Disability

2010–11

2011–12

2012–13

2013–14

2014–15

Mt. Diablo Unified School District

Yes

Yes

130

157

136

120

112

Yes

No

169

190

199

239

239

No

Yes

172

155

110

109

106

No

No

277

274

271

264

288

Total Students

748

776

716

732

745

Long Beach Unified School District

Yes

Yes

287

306

288

241

174

Yes

No

228

355

344

362

340

No

Yes

131

146

124

132

98

No

No

207

294

262

261

243

Total Students

853

1,101

1,018

996

855

Riverside County Special Education Local Plan Area

Yes

Yes

211

232

429

524

585

Yes

No

324

348

677

956

1,185

No

Yes

249

293

386

377

392

No

No

477

508

686

780

984

Total Students

1,261

1,381

2,178

2,637

3,146

South East Consortium for Special Education

Yes

Yes

136

175

195

232

255

Yes

No

307

333

357

376

406

No

Yes

128

158

157

166

201

No

No

420

447

403

419

450

Total Students

991

1,113

1,112

1,193

1,312

Sources: California State Auditor’s analysis of data obtained from the California Department of Education’s California Special Education Management Information System and data obtained from the California Department of Health Care Services’ Fiscal‑Intermediary Access to Medi‑Cal Eligibility system.

Footnotes

10 The focus of the audit was on students who were potentially affected by Assembly Bill 114, namely those receiving mental health services. Accordingly, the numbers we present do not include students who were identified as emotionally disturbed but did not have a mental health service in their IEP.Go back to text